Brisk start to sixth phase of UP polls

Lucknow, Feb 28 (IANS) The penultimate phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections got off to a brisk start Tuesday with an impressive 9.7 voter turnout in the first two hours of polling across 68 assembly constituencies spread across 13 districts in the western part of the state.

Polling for the sixth phase of the seven-phased elections opened at 7 a.m.

“While the overall turnout was estimated at 9.7 percent at 9 a.m. this morning, the highest polling was reported from Hathras where a record 20 percent was witnessed during the first two hours of the poll,” Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha told IANS here.

“Even in other places like Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar, the turnout stood at about 15 percent while Agra recorded nine percent,” he said.